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The Tuttle Fire Department responded to three wildfires along Fox Lane on the afternoon of July 4. Fire Chief Bruce Anthony and the state fire marshal are investigating the suspicious fires.(Staff photo by Jeff Harrison)
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By Jeff Harrison
Managing Editor
Tuttle Fire Chief Bruce Anthony said he believes someone may have intentionally set fire to three fields along Fox Lane on July 4.
“I don’t think it’s a coincidence that they happened at about the same time and were all close together,” Anthony said.
The fires were along Fox Lane between Cemetery and Cimarron roads. All of them appeared to have been set around noon last Wednesday.
It took crews from Tuttle, Bridge Creek and Amber a few hours to extinguish the blazes. The largest of them was a fire that scorched about 10 acres, near Frisco Road.
Anthony said the fire is still under investigation. The department is working with the state fire marshal. A final report could take several weeks, Anthony said.
“Now we’re looking for witnesses, seeing if anyone saw any vehicles or anything suspicious,” he said.
The first call came in just before noon about a grass fire near the intersection of Cemetery Road and Fox Lane. Anthony said the fire burned about 1.5 acres before it was contained.
At that time, smoke was visible from the larger fire near Frisco Road.
“The middle fire was larger because we stopped at that first and because the field had wheat stubble, which burned more quickly,” Anthony said.
The third suspicious fire burned a few acres near the intersection of Fox Lane and Cimarron Road.
Tuttle firefighters battled another handful of fires caused by fireworks later that evening. Anthony said they had 17 personnel members respond to five fires within an hour. The first call came in around 10 p.m. and the final crews returned to the station about 2 a.m.
“The last group was out later because they had to break apart some hay bales that caught fire,” Anthony said.
The largest of fires occurred at a residence on Tyler Drive, just west of Gregory Road. The fire burned about three acres and threatened a structure, before crews extinguished the blaze about 15 minutes later.
Crews also responded to grassfires in the 1900 block of north Sara Rd, the 1200 block of Prairie Meadow Lane, Riviera Drive and Abraham Drive.
Anthony said the number of calls was higher than average. He credited the number to the dry weather conditions and lack of caution by some individuals.
“The conditions were right for a huge fire because of the low humidity, wind and dry fuel,” he said. “And it’s frustrating that some people don’t appreciate the danger that comes along with fireworks. As we were putting out some of the fires, people were still shooting them off across the street.”
Police Chief Don Cluck said they had little trouble during the holiday week. He said they responded to five disturbances during the week. One person cited after failing to follow a warning.
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